[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Go find the man Turas.Strip him of all his clothing and any jewelry.Search even his hair.Then give him to me.We'll see if there are more rats to catch." He turned to Staden and bowed."If there are others, we'll find them, Your Highness."Staden nodded stiffly and Hant left with several of the guardsmen, leaving two soldiers behind as an escort.The king looked from Tris to Gabriel."It seems Jared has a longer reach than I imagined," Staden mused."It's been a generation since anyone's been bold enough to strike at court.We'll make provision." He looked at Tris soberly."My complacency nearly cost your life.I won't make the same mistake again."Tris inclined his head in acknowledgement."We've placed you and your court in great danger."Staden dismissed his comment with a gesture."I'm too old to start running from upstarts.You're welcome for so long as it serves your purpose." He paused."It's late.I suggest you find some rest, if you think you can sleep.""Thank you, Your Majesty.But we have business with the Blood Council.""May the Bright Aspects ride with you," Staden said, raising a hand in blessing.With the guards at his back, Staden strode from the greatroom, leaving Tris and Gabriel alone."After all this," Tris said, "I hope you're not expecting fireworks and some show of power at the Blood Council.I'll be doing well if my head quits hurting enough for me to ride.""We have a candlemark before we must leave," Gabriel said."Mikhail will be joining us.Between us, you'll have nothing to fear from any mortal."Tris gave him a sideways look and drained the last of his mulled wine.He stretched out on the bench."It's not the mortals I'm worried about."CHAPTER THIRTEENThe horses' hooves crunched through the hardened snow as Tris, Gabriel, and Mikhail made their way across the rolling foothills of Principality by moonlight.Even with his heavy cloak, the bitter wind chilled Tris; neither of his companions was affected by the cold.His horse snickered and fidgeted in protest against the wind and the nearness of the vayash moru.Ice glinted on the road, forcing them to ride slowly.Tris pulled his cloak closer around himself.They left the plank road just beyond the city gates.For a time, the road was wide, hard-packed dirt well worn by wagons and travelers to the palace.Gabriel turned from the main road, and the forest seemed to close in around them, blotting out the moonlight and the distant silhouette of the high, sharp mountains.This was an ancient forest.Tiis could sense the stirrings of primal magic, old and powerful, in its shadowed depths.Nearby, a wolf howled.Another answered.Tris shivered, though Gabriel and Mikhail were more than a match for any wolf.More likely, he thought, the wolves were known to the vayash moru, and announced their coming."Who formed the Blood Council? How did it come to exist?" Tris asked Gabriel as they rode, their shadows sharp on the snow in the moonlight."I meant to ask you earlier, but we got a bit busy.""Four hundred years ago, there was no Council, and no truce." Tris noticed that his guide's breath did not steam in the bitter cold."I was newly brought across.I ran from the hunters, the mortals who broke into our day resting places, seeking to destroy us.I saw my kind burned and dismembered.Many mortals used that fear for their own purposes, and not all of the victims were vayasb moru."In time, my kind retaliated, and many mortals were killed.Others of my kind sought to stop the killings by taking control, ruling behind the throne as Arontala seeks to do.It couldn't go on.So the King of Eastmark brought together the rulers of the Winter Kingdoms and made an offer to the vayasb moru."In exchange for an end to the mortals' attacks, we agreed to stop trying to control mortal kingdoms.He gave us Dark Haven, in the disputed lands between Margolan, Eastmark, and Dhasson, as our sanctuary.Principality was not yet a kingdom in its own right.In return, we formed the Blood Council, a ruling body among ourselves, to punish those of our kind who broke the truce, and to enforce the truce with honor."Then the unexpected happened.The Dark Lady appeared to the King of Eastmark in a dream.She told him that Dark Haven must have a mortal lord, one She would choose herself, lest we grow to think ourselves as gods.Many of the elders of my kind also dreamed that dream
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Tematy
IndexChronicles 5 Dragons of Summe Dragonlance
Chronicles 2 Dragons of Winte Dragonlance
Chronicles 1 Dragons of Autum Dragonlance
Martin Durrel Using German Synonyms Cambridge 2004
Martin Charles Kiedy płaczš œwierszcze
Martin, George R.R Los Viajes de Tuf
Kempff Martina Katedra heretyczki (2)
George R.R. Martin 5 Uczta dla Wron cz.1
Aragon Louis Pasażerowie z dyliżansu
Wolff Isabel Cel matrymonialny. Rok z dziennika Tiffany Trott